User Reviews

Weaknesses: the price, the materials, it is the sencond, the first was broken since the first load, the second in the third load... they apply guarantee, the thing is that I need to pay the shipping cost...

Bottom Line:

Please avoid any yakima product, life guarantee... please!!! you have to pay shipping cost!!! they live to be guarantee!!!!

Strengths: It is very convenient to use once you work out the way to use it. It's as easy a roof rack available. I have not had the wobble issue. I'm thankful someone explained the red button issue. I just thought mine didn't work.

Weaknesses: I have had to send both mine back. The customer service has been great. Both mine did not ratchet properly and the knob has had issues. Both seem to be hard to turn every now and then. On one it popped off and won't stay on. Now one is loose at the front bottom of the roller. I'm surprised no-one else has had the ratcheting issue. Again, they have been great. They have replaced both with no questions asked.

Bottom Line:

Overall I might look for something else. If my new one I have coming works then maybe I'll be happier with product.

I've had this for 5 seasons now. It's awesome - on or off in 10 seconds. Holds the bike securely. Your bike will sway a bit, but rest-assured it's secure. This held my Santa Cruz Blur LT and now holds my beloved (and much better than the blur) Yeti 575 (for last 3 seasons). This is so worth the money - you will not be disappointed. I only use the integrated lock to lock the high roller to the roof rails when not in use - I bought 2 gorilla cables and master locks for locking my bike. Note - I bought both this and the Thule sidearm from REI when first got my blur. The high roller is way better - I returned the sidearm (REI is great for returns). Installation of this rack is easy. $200 is pricey, but then again, at 5 seasons and still going strong, it's worth the money. If you bought a nice bike, give it the rack that it deserves.

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
maurohard
a Downhiller
from Bogota, Colombia

Date Reviewed: March 14, 2012

Strengths: great looking, easy to use for downhill bikes!

Weaknesses: none

Bottom Line:

really great warranty, i buy my yakima in USA online , my rack arrived damaged and i just find the problem when i was back in my country , immediately i talk with yakima.com and they send me a new one to my country!

Submitted by
East coast trailrider
a Downhiller
from Ringwood, NJ, USA

Date Reviewed: August 10, 2011

Strengths: Fast and easy load, and unload. Does not scuff frame.

Weaknesses: Poor build quality. I ordered 2 of these, and on one of them, the hinging mechanism on front section that grabs front wheel was falling apart as I was taking it out of the box (I fixed it myself). Made of flimsy material. Mounting area that attaches to roof rack cross bars is poorly engineered, in that it SHOULD BE WIDER to give more side to side stability (bike sways too much when driving). Does not have a GOOD way of locking to roof or bike (a good thief can get that bike and rack off of the car roof in a very short period of time. Yakima configurator and ORS racks direct configurator rips you off for too many "lock cores" (sells you double the amount than you actually need...).

Bottom Line:

I bought 2 of these with a full roof rack kit. Overall it works OK, no issues with getting bike in and out of the setup. Strength and quality is a little lacking IMO for a rack like this, and for this price. With heavier bikes like my DH bike you can see that it sways a little too much side to side for my liking... One was coming apart when brand new taking out of box (I fixed it), but this shows poor build quality.

If you buy online, do not use the configurator to get your lock cores, it sells you way too many for what is needed. I ordered a complete roof rack setup with 2 high rollers, which requires 6 locks for the whole setup. The Configurator told me I require 12 Locks, so I bought them, and now I have 6 extra that I paid for that are going in the garbage because I do not need them. My advise, buy the rack setup first, and when you recieve than you will see how many locks you actually need, then order them seperate...

And do not buy from ORS racks direct, their customer service is non existant.

Strengths: Looks good. Very sturdy design. Loading and unloading is very easy and fast. Holds complete bike no removing the front wheel. No contact with bike frame or components just tires. No roof top noise from it.

Weaknesses: Can be hard to load a bike on time of a high vvehicle Red release button doesn't really work as advertised

Bottom Line:

I really do like this rack I believe that it does work very good. Makes loading and unloading the bikes really easy with very little time. However as stated above the red release button does not really work as advertised and both hands are required leaving no hands to hold the bike. However there is a real easy way to to deal with this. As per what the instructions say you are to loosen the tension wheel before even pressing the red button to lower it the rest of the way. Well what I do is just keep turning the tension wheel until it drops which is very little and works so much easier plus I can keep one hand on the bike. So bottom line this is not an issue.

Others have also mentioned that the plastic covers that have to be snapped back on at the front would not stay on very well. They have one of two issues. There either not getting them completely snapped back on or they broke them while taking them off. When p
utting mine back on once I got them lined up you have to push pretty hard to get them to snap back on. No worries of them coming off.

Other issue mentioned was the bike moving around while driving. Well it does move around some but its really very little some over exaggerate this. It's not enough to bring concern. I have also tried to pull the bike out of the rack after loading it and its not coming out of there so no worries on losing it. However if your tire would go flat while its up there it might come loose. I do believe Yakima could add another ratchet strap to hold the front wheel to rack which would protect against it coming loose if the tire went flat. But the odds of this happening are very slim.

I remember reading somewhere that if you have a wind fairing that you have to mount theses backwards on the rack this is not true the design leaves enough space for even the Q-Towers to pass underneath the highroller. Matter a fact I have mine centered over the Q-Tower.

I am going to address one more issue. Some complain that it doesn't come with a SKS Lock Core. Well that would be nice but do you want to have a bunch of different keys for your rack system or just buy a 6 or 8 pack of SKS locks so that they all match. I think that is why SKS Lock Cores are sold seperately

Bottom line I would highly recommend this rack. I like it so much I am selling all of my Yakima SteelHeads to buy another one.

I bought this because I like not taking my wheel on and off and I did not like scuffing my frames with other racks.
I like this rack just fine, but I really feel at this price Yakima could have put a lock core in it. It is like buying a car and them asking you if you would like tires to go with it!
Hey Yakima, if you send me a lock core I will up your value rating! (and 4 chilis for that!)

Strengths: The HighRoller is built tough and very user friendly. The bike is stable and only moves a little.

Weaknesses: There are two plastic covers that to over the bolt mounts (under the front wheel area), if you do not put these covers back on, the front bar that holds the front wheel is misaligned and may not hold your front tire properly. It makes me wonder how long those plastic covers will last?

Mountain bike tires with large lugs sometimes get stuck on the front bar, and you have to pry your tire out in order to remove your bike. Maybe the front tire contact area chould be rounded off to avoid this.

Bottom Line:

This is a very easy to use bike rack.

I have a Cannondale with a Lefty, and the HighRoller is mounted on the left side of the car, putting the bike in the rack is moderately diffcult due to the Lefty shock and it seems taller for some reason (unless I'm shrinking) even for a sedan.

Overall, I love this rack and I bought it because my bike has disc brakes and lack of space to put front wheels.

Similar Products Used: A Yakima Raptor-like product, this was way before the Raptor came out and this was pre 1991 and bought used.

Also the Yakima Steelheads and ATOC Tandem Topper

Bike Setup: Stock Cannondale F2 with a DLR Lefty

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
MTBchick
a Weekend Warrior
from Gilbert, AZ

Date Reviewed: March 12, 2009

Strengths: easy on and off, don't have to remove front tire, easy to remove and put on other cars

Weaknesses: bike wobble (although the bike is solid in place - hasn't fallen off yet)

Bottom Line:

Buy it. I've really enjoyed having the Highroller - it was well worth the investment. I do have problems loading a bike by myself, but that's simply because I don't have the arm strength - my husband has to help me lift the bike.

We had initial difficulties in removing the bike because the red button wouldn't release. But after reading the other reviews, I realized we needed to release the tension on the arm. Works fine now.

We've also removed and installed the rack on other vehicles (when letting people borrow the rack), and it's very easy to remove and install - only takes a few minutes.

Weaknesses: The bike sways some, which concerned me at first, but after 6 months, this is not an issue.

Bottom Line:

I considered both the Thule Side Arm and the Yakima High Roller. Both are decent racks - you can't go wrong with either, but I liked the High Roller better. I actually found it easier to use than the Side Arm for the following reasons:
side arm has a lot of resistance as you're trying to get it to just the right angle over your wheel; they don't tell you this when you're buying it, but the side arm has to make contact with both your tire AND THE FORK - this interfered with the cable guide on my Fox Float 32 RLC fork; the side arm sticks out over your front windshield; when no bike on it, the side arm sticks up higher than the high roller; the thule product was generally made like crap compared to the yakima (out of the box, the thule paint was already bubbling on the mounting bracket, plus overall feel was cheap);

The only thing that the side arm did better than the high roller, was hold the bike without the slight sway of the high roller - however, all the other benefits I just stated about the high roller easily outweighed the side arm for me.

I recommend the high roller - no problem releasing the bike - you put the fingers of your right hand on the wheel to steady the bike, you use your thumb of your right hand to pull the support against the tire to take the pressure off while you loosen the knob with your left hand - push the button with your left hand and let go of the support with your thumb - easy.

I don't understand everyone's concern over the built in cable lock - the only thing I use it for is to lock the high roller to the bar when I'm not using it. I've actually considered cutting it off the rack. When the bike's up there, I use two cable locks I bought for that purpose.

I give it a 4 for value 'cause it's not cheap but I think it's made well. Overall I'd give it a 5 but the slight sway brings it to a 4. I recommend REI over RackAttack. REI sells both yakima and thule and their return policy is no hassle. RackAttack personell did not convey trustworthyness to me.

Strengths: Built like a tank and literally takes less than 30 seconds to throw your bike up and completely fasten it in place. Holds the bike tight and secure with no worries about it shaking loose during travel. Also has good security to give you a little piece of mind.

To eliminate the red knob issues you simply lift up slightly on the swing arm that holds the tire and the button pushes in freely. It is the dead weight of the swing arm that keeps the button from pushing in freely.

FRONT WHEEL STAYS ON!!!

Weaknesses: It is a large geometry rack and is not exactly sleek from a wind resistance stand point. When not loaded with a bike it is a large looking rack sitting on your ride. The ease of use and performance greatly outweigh the size issue but something to be aware of when considering this rack

Bottom Line:

Great rack, loads in less than a minute and you dont have to remove your front wheel.

Strengths: The mechanism is far and above beyond the King Cobra. The Cobra's tightening knob loosens itself easily. The high roller simply stays put. The Cobra when trying to loosen the bike from the hoop will take a bite of your finger if not careful The highroller just takes a little tap to the tire. In sum, it does its job and is easy to use. It is the product that the King Cobra should have been all along.

Weaknesses: After a year of use I haven't identified any. At first, due to the streamlined look, and bike wobble' I thought maybe it wasn't as sturdy as other options. That has proven false. It's rock steady.

Bottom Line:

At 140$ and the ease of use and design so much better than the King Cobra, it's a sure bet. Also available many places. Best mount of 6 I've tried. (Trunk mount--Saris and another brand, BOA, yakima that held bike by down tube, K Cobra, steel head mount).

Weaknesses: Should be able to lock to rack without bike cable, wheel size stop is crap, expensive. Bike does sway a fair amount but does't seem to be going anywhere.

Bottom Line:

Really like this rack and it's a big improvement over the King Cobra my friend has. I like that it folds much flatter than KC or Thule Criterium. I like the upright as it's fast and my Maverick with DUC fork has to use an adapter for fork mount (does have quick releases) and it's hard to grab since it's inverted and has stanchion guards. I like that it grabs the wheel, but the wheel size clamp doesn't stay closed -- I've had to zip tie it. Also like that the front wheel doesn't hang over the front bar like the Thule and whole thing is behind my fairing.

The tension dial works just fine, though I find the red button is worthless. You have to unscrew the dial so much for the button to work it's not worth it. I just unscrew until the bars fall and can hold my bike steady with one hand just fine.

Also agree that one more lock core to lock the carrier to the rack would be nice. I don't bother to use the cable for that, but I do use it on my bike. I did replace the wingnut in back with just a nut to make it more of a hassle to remove the carrier.

May not be perfect, but it's the best upright out there by a good amount.